Friday, January 6, 2017

Las Vegas lawyer accused of stealing millions from clients arrested

Embattled
probate lawyer Robert Graham was arrested Wednesday after being
indicted by a Clark County grand jury in connection with the theft of
$2.1 million from clients.

He faces three felony counts
each of theft and exploitation of an older/vulnerable person, and two
gross misdemeanor counts of destroying evidence.

Chief
Deputy District Attorney J.P. Raman said in court Wednesday that Graham
may have stolen more than $15 million from his clients.

Records show that Graham was booked into the Clark County Detention Center on $5 million bail.

District Attorney Steve Wolfson said in a news release that the investigation is ongoing and he expects to file more charges.

“We
felt it was necessary to quickly seek an indictment on this case to
ensure that evidence was preserved and that Mr. Graham was unable to
cause any further financial damage to families in our community,”
Wolfson said. ”Attorneys are held to a high ethical standard, which
evokes a certain level of trust from their clients, and the violation of
that trust is unacceptable.”

The State Bar of Nevada
filed a complaint against Graham last month alleging that he stole
millions of dollars from dozens of clients before abruptly closing his
Lawyers West office in Summerlin on Dec. 2.

Las Vegas police and the FBI have been jointly investigating the disappearance of the funds.

The
indictment alleges Graham stole $2.1 million from clients in three of
his cases between July 9, 2013, and Dec. 2, 2016. Two of the cases
involved elderly victims and one involved a “vulnerable” victim,
according to the indictment.

“But this is just the tip of the iceberg,” Raman said. “There will be many, many more victims and much more monetary theft.”

While
Graham shuttered his firm, he logged into a corporate “Dropbox” account
and deleted nearly 3,000 files that related to clients, wire transfers
and operations, according to the prosecutor.
“He’s facing
extremely serious criminal charges — not only what we have on him
today, but what we’ll be bringing in the future,” Raman said. “He will
obviously be facing significant punishment when he answers to the full
scope of the crimes committed.”

Deputy Public Defender
Bryan Cox, representing Graham in the criminal case, said late Wednesday
that he has had “ongoing dialogue” with prosecutors and provided them
with documents.

Asked
about deleted files, Cox said, “We strongly disagree with, and we deny
that allegation.” He added that Graham may have moved files to a hard
drive “for preservation.”

“It’s our contention that no files have been deleted or erased,” Cox said.

The
defense attorney also said he planned to address Graham’s custody
status at a future court hearing, though no date has been set.

“We don’t believe he’s a flight risk,” Cox said.

The
indictment alleges that Graham stole $1.1 million from the estate of
Michael Macknin, $595,596 from the estate of Lois Lee and $471,585 from
the special needs trust of Thane Parton.

One of the Macknin family lawyers, Joseph Kistler, hailed the district attorney’s pursuit of the indictment.

“Mr.
Wolfson is an honorable, ethical attorney who undoubtedly shares the
community’s dismay caused by these events,” Kistler said in an email.
“My client joins with the other former clients of Lawyers West and
Robert Graham, LTD in trusting that justice will be done for themselves
and the State of Nevada.”

Kistler has been waging a
separate fight in Clark County District Court to obtain the $1.1 million
Graham had held for the Macknin estate.

The estate is
among several former clients who joined forces to file an involuntary
bankruptcy petition against Graham’s law practice last month to recover
their missing money.

Graham, a prominent figure in the
probate legal community before his temporary suspension in December,
operated his law practice under three separate entities, including
Lawyers West. He also once maintained offices in Utah and Colorado.

Just
days after shutting down his office, Graham turned over possession of a
$1 million home in Fort Collins, Colorado, to his wife.

Records show that Linda Graham filed for bankruptcy in Colorado on Dec. 31.

She
estimated in the bankruptcy petition that her assets were worth $1
million to $10 million, but that her financial liabilities were between
$10 million and $50 million.

Among her listed potential creditors are many of her husband’s former clients.

Linda Graham, who also is a lawyer, said in the petition she is now suing him for divorce in Colorado.

She also said there is a $713,146 mortgage on the home and that she owes the IRS $111,727.
The
Grahams bought the 4,247-square-foot home together in Colorado in July
2014 for $955,000, records in that state show. But on Dec. 5, amid
allegations that his clients’ money was missing, Graham filed a new deed
turning over the home to his wife.

In an interview with
the Las Vegas Review-Journal last month, Graham described his law
practice as a 20-year business failure. He declined, however, to explain
what had happened to the missing funds.

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